Head coach Craig Neal wore the cherry blazer for Friday night’s match against Idaho State.
It wasn’t easy, but he is now 4-0 in season openers at UNM, and New Mexico has now won its last 14 such games.
The Lobos took an 81-70 victory over the Bengals in front of 11,293 fans, during what Neal described as one of the most challenging season openers he’s experienced as a head coach.
“All in all, that was a good win,” he said. “That was a tough opening night. Probably one of the better teams we’ve played on opening night since I’ve been here. I knew it was going to be a tough task because of their backcourt.”
Guard/forward Sam Logwood led the Lobos with seven field goals and 20 points both career-highs for junior. Forward Tim Williams followed closely with seven field goals and 18 points.
“I thought Tim Williams had a really good second half and I thought Sam Logwood played probably his best game so far as a Lobo,” Neal said.
Elijah Brown, who sat out a pair of exhibition matches to nurse a hamstring injury, stepped back on Bob King Court for his first action since last season.
“It definitely showed that Elijah hadn’t practiced,” Neal said. “I mean, out of 27 practices, he had five practices with us. So I thought we were a little rusty playing together.”
While not his best performance, Brown still managed to score 14 points — the third-highest total on the team — in 30 minutes of play.
Prior to the game, Neal said Idaho State’s Ethan Telfair was “an excellent college guard” and would be one to watch. He was right, as the senior guard — who was selected to the Big Sky Preseason All-Conference Team — led all scorers with 25 points.
The first half of the match belonged to Idaho State. The Bengals got out in front early and held a double-digit lead, 24-14. Though the Lobos responded with a 9-0 run to draw close, they were not able to catch up before halftime.
The Bengals led 38-32 at half, with Telfair and his 11 points leading the way. Anthony Mathis led the Lobos with six points, despite logging just four minutes in the first frame.
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Neal said all he did was move some players around the court to better adapt to the Bengals’ style of play in the second half. The strategy paid off as the Lobos slowly cut their deficit.
With 13:23 remaining, a jumper from Brown put New Mexico up 50-49. The Lobos would not relinquish the lead and continued to pull away for an 11-point win, 81-70.
“We were caught back like we did with Eastern New Mexico. I thought they were just going to come out and they were just going to run away with this one,” Neal said. “They are an aggressive team and they have two really good guards, some good parts.”
The Lobos will be back on the court Monday night as they take on the Houston Baptist Huskies. The match is scheduled for 7 p.m. at WisePies Arena.
Heroes Night
Friday was Veteran’s Day and the Lobos wore special red jerseys with camouflage numbers to celebrate Heroes Night. The uniforms were auctioned and proceeds will go toward the Wounded Warrior Project and UNM Army ROTC.
Neal finished his usual postgame press conference and began walking away. He stopped, then walked back to his seat to address something he said was important to him.
He said women, minorities and veterans are among those that haven’t received fair or equal treatment. Neal said he has felt a responsibility to do more, and that is one reason Friday’s game was so important to him.
“I think there is a lot of inequality, there is a lot of injustice for a lot of groups. And I think the veterans are one of them,” Neal said. “I don’t think we’ve taken care of them after what they’ve done. That’s why I do this.”
Neal said he has tried to eliminate military-based metaphors that are used in sports analogies. Words like “battle” and “war” to describe a game can seem insensitive to those who have truly served in one, and the head coach said it’s just one way to be sympathetic to veterans and show them respect.
“I’ve been kind of sympathetic to that and not used those words. I also make my guys stand in attention during the national anthem…. I really respect what the veterans have done,” Neal said. “I think it’s very important because it is time for change. It is time for us to stand up for something.”
Isabel Gonzalez is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. She mainly covers men’s soccer and basketball. She can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @cisabelg.
